1. Field
The invention is in the field of wild game calls.
2. State of the Art
Animals of most wild game species, such as elk, whitetail deer, mule deer, moose, antelope, coyote, bear, ducks, geese, and turkeys produce vocal calls which attract other animals of the species to the one making the call. Hunters and photographers have found that if they can imitate an animal's call, they are able to attract such animals. However, if the attempted call does not accurately simulate the real call, rather than attracting the animals, it can actually alert the animal to a perceived dangerous situation. Many types of wild game call devices have been developed to help a person simulate the call of a particular animal and are currently available for a variety of animals. However, most of these are difficult to use to produce natural sounding calls.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,735,725, 5,885,125, and 6,413,140 show a modular game call system having a mouthpiece section that includes a reed or membrane for creating the sound, a intermediate tubular section, and a sound chamber section. The mouthpiece section creates the sound while the tubular section and sound chamber section modify the sound created by the mouthpiece section so the sound produced more closely simulates the natural sounds produced by the animal being called. The reed or membrane in the mouthpiece may be likened to the animal's vocal chords, while the tubular section and sound chamber may be likened to the throat of the animal and the mouth or nose of the animal. These enhance the resonance and quality of tones produced.
With the modular system of the cited patents, the mouthpiece, tubular section, and sound chamber can all be interchanged with other such parts so as to vary the sound produced as desired by the user. Thus, different sound chambers used with the same mouthpiece and tubular section will produce different sounds. Similarly, different tubular sections with the same mouthpiece and sound chamber will produce a different quality of sound. The particular mouthpiece used will generally have a relatively large effect on the sound produced and generally the particular mouthpiece used will determine the particular type of animal sound made. For example, one mouthpiece may be used to create an elk call and a different mouthpiece will be used to create a deer or moose call. Generally, the mouthpiece used will create the same animal sound while the tubular section and sound chamber will give tonal qualities to the sound which will make the sound natural sounding and effective to call game. If an unnatural sound is produced that sound, rather than calling the animals, will actually alert them to an unnatural or dangerous situation.